‘The fact it is getting back into the market is a good thing. It shows is has recovered and is looking to buy,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Madsen pointed to agencies looking longer term at their sale prospects and identified both sports and social media as key areas of growing market activity.

Talking of businesses that might be looking to acquire PR agencies to bolster skills they lack, he added: ‘Social media and the digital area are areas of the budget that firms haven’t really cracked yet.’